THE PEACEMAKER WHO DIVIDES

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 27, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: January 27, 2021 from Luke 12:49-53

Theme: Our Lord’s work of bringing peace to those He redeems also brings division into the world.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we come to a passage that—for those who have never encountered it before—must seem startling. It presents us with an aspect of Jesus’ ministry that people wouldn’t ordinarily expect.

Jesus had been talking to those who were His followers. They had watched as the Pharisees and scribes had made accusations against Him and blasphemed Him. He urged His followers to be faithful to Him; and to watch for His return. And then, He said these words:

“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Luke 12:49-53).

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Many people think of Jesus as ‘the Prince of Peace’; and rightly so, because that’s what the Bible calls Him in Isaiah 9:6. It tells us that—in respect to the outcome of His kingdom reign—“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). His birth into this world was announced by the angels with the declaration:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men!” ( Luke 2:14).

And even to His own disciples, He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you …” (John 14:27). And so, it’d be natural for people to expect that Jesus came into this world to bring about peace on earth.

But no. In fact, He Himself said, “not at all”.

When it comes to His followers in the long view, then yes—we can certainly say that He does bring about peace for us. He reconciles us to God; and brings us with Him into His Father’s house. And He even gives us the experience of His own peace along the way. But when it comes to this world, He declared that He came to bring fire upon the earth. He specifically came—as He Himself made clear—to undergo an experience on the cross that does not bring peace to this world, but rather division. The result of His coming and dying on the cross for us is that all people are now put on the crossroads of decision. Full, world-wide ‘unity’ is now no longer possible. Some of the closest human relationships would become broken; and people in the closest possible human connections would be set at odds with one another.

I have personally experienced this. When I became a follower of Jesus, I was in my high-school years. It immediately created a division in my family; and it resulted in some of the most painful memories of my growing-up years. The harsh words that were said had sent me, many nights, to bed in tears. And it wasn’t only from within my family that I experienced this. I lost close friends; and experienced some hostile acts against my reputation and my person. It was a time of real testing for me. Some of you have experienced some of the same things. I remember reading this passage back in those days—and thinking, “Oh. This is supposed to happen.”

In this passage, then, our Lord tells us something that we need to know. His gracious work of bringing peace to those He redeems—that is, to us who believe on Him—also brings about division into the world. We need to remember this, and keep all the more faithful to our work in His service—watching faithfully for the day of His return, and not letting ourselves stumble because of the hostility we experience as a result of following Jesus.

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Let’s look a bit more closely at the surprising things our Lord says in this passage. First, we see that …

1. HE CAME TO SEND FIRE (v. 49).

As He said in verse 49, “I came to send fire on the earth …”

How do we understand this? Back when John the Baptist was ministering—baptizing people in a baptism of repentance from sin—he preached about Jesus and said,

“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:16-17).

Notice carefully a couple of things in what John said. First, he said that Jesus comes to baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire”. The Holy Spirit, of course, came upon Jesus at His baptism. But what John was talking about, in this case, was something that Jesus would do to others. Because of His death on the cross as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’, Jesus redeems those who believe on Him; and they become indwelt by and sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. Their baptism with the Holy Spirit is a work of grace by which they are eternally identified with God’s gift of salvation. But others are baptized with something else. “Fire” is often presented to us in the Bible as a symbol of the outpouring of God’s wrath in holy judgment of sin. Everyone will be ‘baptized’ by Jesus—that is, brought into a condition of eternal identification—with one of those two things: the saving work of the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus’ cross, or the condemning judgment of God’s wrath for sin in the lake of fire. There is no other ultimate outcome than those two.

And second, notice that this naturally involves a division between those sealed by the saving work of the Holy Spirit, or those destined for the eternal judgment of fire. Jesus, as it were, comes to the threshing floor that is covered with wheat. He takes His winnowing fan in hand; and He vigorously waves it in order to stir the wind—separating the good, solid kernels of grain from the flimsy, light, useless chaff that is easily broken away. The grain He gathers to Himself into His barn; but the chaff gets tossed into the fire.

And looking once again at Luke 12:49, notice one thing further; that this ‘fire’ is not simply an unexpected and unwanted consequence of His coming. It’s not that He didn’t mean for this fire to be brought into the world. He was, in fact, longing for it. He went on to say, “and how I wish it were already kindled!” Why? It’s because it will bring to a completion the redemptive plan of His Father. Sin will be finally dealt with; righteousness will be perfectly established; and His redeemed people will be with Him forever. He walked on this earth with that day in mind; and He longed that the fire was kindled already.

But something else needed to happen before that fire could be kindled He next declared that …

2. HE CAME TO UNDERGO A BAPTISM (v. 50).

He said, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!”

Do you remember how the Bible tells us that the people of Israel—when they followed the pillar of cloud and crossed the Red Sea with Moses—were said to have been “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:2)? This is because the word “baptism” was being used to describe an experience of some kind that permanently marks someone in some way, and that forever identifies them with something. Jesus said that He had a baptism to undergo; and that baptism was the experience of His suffering on the cross. When His disciples once asked to be seated on His right hand and on His left hand in the glory of His kingdom, He said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matthew 20:22). The cross—upon which He would atone for the sin of the world—was His unique “baptism” experience.

And think of the agony that faced Him at the cross. What a holy thing that agony was! In Matthew’s Gospel, we’re told that—before He was arrested to be crucified—He went to the Garden of Gethsemane. He took some of His disciples close to Him.

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:38-39).

We’re told that He prayed this three times. He was looking ahead not only to the pain of the cross, but also to the unspeakable agony of bearing the condemnation of our sins upon Himself and having the Father turn away from Him; and having to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” This was the only way that your sins and mine could be forgiven. It would be the only way that we could be separated from the ‘chaff’ that would burn with unquenchable fire. It was the baptism that He said He must be baptized with.

And He was distressed—afflicted of soul—until it was accomplished.

And it’s then He tells us that …

3. HE CAME TO GIVE DIVISION (vv. 51-53).

He said, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division” (v. 51). It was not that He did not come to give peace at all. He did bring about peace for us. His atoning sacrifice brought about peace between ourselves and the holy Creator God against whom we have sinned. But Jesus did not come to give peace on the earth as a whole. He came instead to bring about a division—a distinction between those who believe and are redeemed, and those who do not believe and are not redeemed.

That division shows itself in experience. He went on to say, “For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (vv. 52-53). He explained that this was because of Himself. In John 15:18-25, Jesus told His disciples;

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” (John 15:18-25).

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So then; in this passage, our Lord is telling us the truth of the matter. He didn’t come in order to make the world into a more peaceful place. His coming made it a much more divided place. He came into the world, and spoke in the world, and even died for the sins of the world; so that now, the people of this world have no excuse. They are put on the forks of a decision. They must either turn from sin and believe on Him, or remain on the side of hatred against Him. The world is becoming more divided over Him every day; and will continue to do so. In another passage, we’re told that He was about to send His apostles out into the world to proclaim Him. He warned them that He was sending them out as sheep into the midst of wolves; and He told them;

“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22).

I’m sorrowful for the division. But I appreciate what one preacher said about this—that if a division had not occurred as a result of the Savior coming into this world, then no one would have been saved at all. We were all born in a state of enmity toward God. We were all fallen in Adam. We were all destined for the fire of judgment. How grateful we should be, then, that He calls some of us out from this fallen world and makes us into Jesus’ redeemed followers.

While I’m sorrowful for the division, I’m glad for the distinction. And anyone who places their trust in Him—and enters into eternal life through Him—becomes glad too.

EA